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Sarah Adams, standing to the right of Courtney Force, is a public relations pro with John Force Racing. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Life inside John Force Racing

March 10, 2014

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“I can’t imagine anything more worthwhile than doing what I most love. And they pay me for it.” -- Edgar Winter

Being a 26-year-old public relations professional in any field can sometimes be difficult, but working for John Force Racing is one of the most rewarding moves I have ever made.

I attended Indiana State University in my hometown of Terre Haute, Ind. My senior year at ISU, I worked for Forward Sports Marketing under the direction of Ryan Haas. It was one of the best jobs I have ever had. I received a Bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in public relations, and double-minored in marketing and motorsport management.

After graduating, I joined John Force Racing and now work under Elon Werner and Kelly Antonelli in our Brownsburg, Ind. office.

From February to October I travel to each of the 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, and to several driver appearances throughout the year.

The toughest thing in this business is trying to manage your time while finding the right balance between your personal life and your career. While many people my age are still searching for the career they love, I’ve already found mine -- and I’m extremely thankful for that.

Of course you have nights where you can’t seem to turn your brain off so you can go to sleep; or you unpack your suitcase just to wash clothes and repack them; or my favorite, you wake up in your hotel room and it takes entirely too long to remember what city you’re in.

Some people might think giving up much of your personal life isn’t worth it, but at John Force Racing we’re a family, and saying this company has rubbed off on me is an understatement. And I really do feel like a part of the family, along with the four drivers: John Force, Robert Hight, and Brittany and Courtney Force. JFR includes three Funny Car teams and one Top Fuel Dragster team, and we are privileged to have the support of our sponsors Ford, Castrol, Traxxas, Auto Club, Mac Tools and BrandSource.

The question I hear the most: “Is John Force really like he is on TV?”

I love this, because it gives me a chance to share with people how real John and his family are. Yes, with Force, what you see is what you get. He is 320 mph at all times and he lives for NHRA drag racing. He is easily the busiest person I have ever met in my life: running a race team, traveling, finding sponsors, making appearances, meeting new fans and driving a 10,000-hp Funny Car on the weekends.

Because of his energetic personality, you never know what you’re going to get. As soon we show up to a race, he knows the town like the back of his hand. He knows the hotels, the tracks, the restaurants, the good ice cream shops, etc. Sometimes he drives us to the track and while he’s telling us a story, we’ll end up in the middle of nowhere. As soon as I think I should be worried, the trees will clear and we’ll be at the track. I don’t know how he does it.

His daughters are his pride and joy, and he makes sure everyone knows it. Adria, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney are some of the sweetest, most genuine people I have ever met. Not only do they work hard and care about John Force Racing as a whole, they care about their fans.

I was fortunate enough to start working with Courtney leading up to her 2012 Funny Car debut, so we have been a team from the start. After all the traveling we do for 24 races a year and then some, you get to see a person’s true colors -- and she has become one of my best friends.

I will never forget my “interview process” leading up to my job at JFR. I had been in touch with the team for just a few weeks, but decided to go to Reading, Pa., for the next race. I hadn’t booked a flight -- and with a fresh-out-of-college budget, I wasn’t going to -- so I made the decision to drive east for 10 hours and “job shadow” JFR’s PR team.

When John found out I was willing to pay for my own trip before I was ever hired, he took full advantage of the situation: He asked if I could pick up Courtney “on the way,” then cancel my hotel room and just room with her, you know, to save money and see if we got along.

So, I drove an hour past Reading to pick Courtney up at the Philadelphia airport. She didn’t even know what I looked like or who to look for. As I introduced myself and helped her with her bags, we both prepared for a really awkward car ride to the hotel, which turned out not so awkward.

From the time we jumped back in the car, we had no problem finding things to talk about, and realized we had a lot in common; a huge relief for both of us. We were both the same age, graduated college with the same degree and had the same sense of humor.

When we got closer to Reading, we stopped and met John and some of the team guys for dinner. John was trying his hardest to push us into becoming friends, and it worked! It wasn’t long before I felt like I had kind of adopted a new family of people that I live with more than 100 days per year.

In my opinion, JFR stands out as a team in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series because we’re knit so tightly. I think the entire team works the longest and the hardest, but there is a reason for that: We all love it, and at the end of the day we’re here to win.

JFR has 18 combined championships and counting, with John claiming 16 of them. John is once again No. 1 in Funny Car points, followed by the company president and John’s son-in-law Robert Hight in the No. 2 spot. Our Top Fuel Dragster is running very well with Brittany behind the wheel. She took JFR’s first-ever Top Fuel Dragster to her first-ever professional final round a couple weeks ago in Phoenix, and is tied for fifth in points.

In this business, there is no such thing as a “typical” work week. Everything changes constantly; it was something I had to get used to when I started this job. JFR hired me specifically to work with Courtney, since she was just getting ready for her Funny Car debut at that time. In 2013, I took over some of the PR duties for Brittany as well. My focus is still around Courtney and the Traxxas team, but my boss, Elon, and I work together on the scheduling and pitching of stories involving John, Robert and Brittany.

Usually, our schedules look like road maps, with us taking drivers to participate in media events and running here and there for appearances, Q&As, meet and greets, and autograph signings. It is complete and total madness, but somehow it works.

I schedule Courtney and Brittany’s radio, television and print interviews, keep an event schedule for each race weekend, a weekly schedule for a non-race weekend, and a master schedule for each of them for the entire year.

Before each race, Elon and I send out an advance story on each of our drivers, along with a stats package and a photo package. At the end of each race day, we send out a team release to let the media know how we did. If one of our drivers qualifies No. 1 or wins the race, it’s actually a lot more work on the PR team. The demand for your driver goes through the roof. That is always, always a good thing. At the end of the day on Sunday, I put together a full sponsor report on our team’s accomplishments for the weekend and send it to all of our sponsors.

I travel with Courtney to any appearances that are outside of race weekends and go in early to events for media opportunities such as press conferences or media days. There is usually a PR representative at each appearance with a driver.

We also keep spreadsheets for all of our drivers’ stats and update them constantly, help organize and see through special events for JFR, assist our drivers with various blogs, journals and columns, and handle all of the team social media.

Social media is a sensitive subject with me. We have a website, Facebook page, Twitter account and Instagram account for John Force Racing. Several years ago I remember saying that I would not want “social-media manager” as my only job description because I am capable of so much more than that. Social media does fall under the PR umbrella and therefore is part of my job, but takes up a lot of time. It is an avenue in the business world that is extremely beneficial, but never complete. As soon as you have updated everything, it’s time to update it again. I do enjoy it and have seen what it has done for our company, but let me tell you, there are not enough hours in a day.

Being a PR representative for a company like this has its perks, but it is in no way easy. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to perform well and benefit your company. You also have to be willing to travel and give up a lot in return. My boyfriend races sprint cars, and a lot of the time it kills me that I can’t be there to support him at every race. I’m lucky that my friends and family try to schedule events around me, and so far, my nieces and nephews have all been born while I was in town!

If you are looking for a career in PR, take courses centered around mass communication, persuasion and public opinion, ethics, writing and planning. If you are set on a PR field, a background in nonprofit can help, and an internship is highly recommended. There is no easy way to get there without hard work.

Speaking of hard work, JFR is off to a great start to the season, but still has a lot of work to do. Thank you to all of our fans for standing by us! See you all at the races -- and follow along with us on Twitter via @JFR_Sarah, @JFR_Racing, and via http://instagram.com/jfr_sarah.